California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 263,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,365 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.50% of Spire worth $16,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Spire by 126.0% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,501,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,969 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Spire by 275.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 313,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,722,000 after buying an additional 229,771 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the third quarter valued at about $11,898,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 25.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 788,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,624,000 after buying an additional 161,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,127,000 after acquiring an additional 80,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Spire news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total value of $75,220.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $61.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.55. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.77 and a 52-week high of $69.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $60.06 and a 200 day moving average of $60.03.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.88 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 8.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 81.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price objective on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.72.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and other end-users of natural gas in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gas Utility, Gas Marketing, and Midstream. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas and related services; and transportation and storage of natural gas.